About Deborah Thornton

Deborah Thornton currently consults as a public policy researcher, analyst, and writer under contract primarily with the Public Interest Institute, based in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. The Public Interest Institute (PII) is a non-profit, non-partisan, free-market, limited-government think-tank. She is an accomplished writer having her articles appear in over 100 newspapers She was formerly the chairwoman for the Republican Party of Johnson County.

She holds an MBA from the University of Maryland, and a BA degree from Indiana University with a double major in Political Science and Journalism.

The old Groucho Marx line, “Please accept my resignation. I don’t want to belong to any club that would accept me as one of its members,” holds true when we talk about union membership. The more a union wants me to join, the less I’m interested. Fortunately, in Iowa I don’t have to. People in […]

Liberals decry the fact that the minimum wage hasn’t been raised since 2009, and talk about “income inequality” and “fairness.” So how much is the minimum wage, who earns it, and why? The Federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, before overtime. When first established in 1938 it was 25 cents. In 1979, when the […]

The FY 2013 year-end report on Iowa General Fund revenues shows that state government taxing and spending is at an all-time record high, and it keeps going up. The FY 2013 net appropriations were $6.413 billion, up over $450 million from FY 2012. The budget has grown from $4.8 billion since 2005, as Graph 1 […]

Options are a good thing. An important part of the capitalist society is having options and the ability to choose them. However, most Iowans do not have options for educating their children – but they want them! Iowa government schools have been considered good and have strong support from taxpayers. However, achievement has been stagnant […]

In order to be successful and continue to grow as a country, as a people, and as individuals there are four things we need. Dysfunction in even one makes success difficult and results in what Adam Smith in the 1700s called the “stationary state” – where an economy or country ceases to grow.[1] This lack […]

The favorite toy of many little (and big) boys is a shiny, new pick-up truck. Pick-up trucks are used for both work and play, by farmers, electricians, carpenters, and weekend warriors. A new 2013 Ford F-150 will run a big boy a minimum of $25,000, and as much as $50,000. Because of this, new registrations […]

Right-to-Work means employees do not have to be union members. Iowa has been a Right-to-Work state since 1948. Workers do not have to “join or pay dues…in order to keep your job, salary, benefits, or seniority.” This is true at a private company, a school district, city, county, or state government. Many people have fought […]

The Iowa state budget currently has a surplus, a rather significant one. This means our taxes are too high. Not that the state does not spend enough, but we are paying too much. Every penny paid in taxes is a penny not being invested in new jobs or providing for our families. And if you […]